What''s the best/funniest thing you''ve heard from a maul store clerk?

[Stephan]

Living in Brussels, I''ve heard a lot of bllsht when visiting mauls in Antwerp.
But it is in Brussels that I''ve heard the worst and most dangerous advice.
It happened in one of the most exclusive jewelry stores (I won''t name it).
Advice given for a white gold ring:
''Every now and then, remember to clean your ring by putting it in some boiling bleach!''

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/24/2009 1:48:49 PM
Author: QueenMum
Living in Brussels, I've heard a lot of bllsht when visiting mauls in Antwerp.
But it is in Brussels that I've heard the worst and most dangerous advice.
It happened in one of the most exclusive jewelry stores (I won't name it).
Advice given for a white gold ring:
'Every now and then, remember to clean your ring by putting it in some boiling bleach!'

And hope you are still alive afterwards from the fumes to enjoy your sparkly clean diamond and corroded setting....

 

[indypitty]

I was browsing in a large jewely chain store, and asked if they had any cushions.

The guy said, "Cushion is just another name for oval. It''s exactly the same cut."

 

[that_someone_special]

"This stone is a 1 carat."

(When it CLEARLY was closer to a .20 or .25 ... WTF???????????

 

[that_someone_special]

Date: 7/24/2009 1:48:49 PM
Author: QueenMum
Living in Brussels, I''ve heard a lot of bllsht when visiting mauls in Antwerp.
But it is in Brussels that I''ve heard the worst and most dangerous advice.
It happened in one of the most exclusive jewelry stores (I won''t name it).
Advice given for a white gold ring:
''Every now and then, remember to clean your ring by putting it in some boiling bleach!''

When I read this, my eyes got huge and I said, "Holy Crap!" outloud.

 

[joelly]

Date: 7/24/2009 2:02:46 PM
Author: swedish bean
''This stone is a 1 carat.''

(When it CLEARLY was closer to a .20 or .25 ... WTF???????????

Yes, this happened to us too at Zales. The SA said that this is 1 carat when the tag said 0.71ct. When I point this out to her, she was like, oh yes thats what I mean. She said that in diamond industry a 0.71ct is equal to one carat. We said one carat just to save the time. WTF???

 

[joelly]

Date: 7/24/2009 2:01:12 PM
Author: indypitty
I was browsing in a large jewely chain store, and asked if they had any cushions.

The guy said, ''Cushion is just another name for oval. It''s exactly the same cut.''

I love your ring. Its gorgeous.

Sorry OP, I just need to comment on indypitty''s avatar.

 

[Sam82]

Date: 7/24/2009 2:46:12 PM
Author: joelly

Date: 7/24/2009 2:02:46 PM
Author: swedish bean
''This stone is a 1 carat.''

(When it CLEARLY was closer to a .20 or .25 ... WTF???????????

Yes, this happened to us too at Zales. The SA said that this is 1 carat when the tag said 0.71ct. When I point this out to her, she was like, oh yes thats what I mean. She said that in diamond industry a 0.71ct is equal to one carat. We said one carat just to save the time. WTF???

Wow. It''s amazing how much they lie. I wonder if it is intentional or just ignorance.

 

[Renae]

Date: 7/24/2009 2:48:28 PM
Author: Sam82

Date: 7/24/2009 2:46:12 PM
Author: joelly

Date: 7/24/2009 2:02:46 PM
Author: swedish bean
''This stone is a 1 carat.''

(When it CLEARLY was closer to a .20 or .25 ... WTF???????????

Yes, this happened to us too at Zales. The SA said that this is 1 carat when the tag said 0.71ct. When I point this out to her, she was like, oh yes thats what I mean. She said that in diamond industry a 0.71ct is equal to one carat. We said one carat just to save the time. WTF???

Wow. It''s amazing how much they lie. I wonder if it is intentional or just ignorance.

HA! I''ve been told that before too. But they told me that anything from .33 and up is considered 1/2 carat and so they just call it that. Of course, the diamond I was looking at (at the time) was .33

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 7/24/2009 2:48:28 PM
Author: Sam82

Date: 7/24/2009 2:46:12 PM
Author: joelly

Date: 7/24/2009 2:02:46 PM
Author: swedish bean
'This stone is a 1 carat.'

(When it CLEARLY was closer to a .20 or .25 ... WTF???????????

Yes, this happened to us too at Zales. The SA said that this is 1 carat when the tag said 0.71ct. When I point this out to her, she was like, oh yes thats what I mean. She said that in diamond industry a 0.71ct is equal to one carat. We said one carat just to save the time. WTF???

Wow. It's amazing how much they lie. I wonder if it is intentional or just ignorance.

I think it's a mix of both.

A LOT of it is ignorance.

But there are definitely some SA's that will take an unsuspecting customer out for ride. For example, the "Flash Rodium" thing being the difference between white and yellow gold. I've been told this a few times. Each time I look at them and say, "Really? That's the ONLY difference." Some really do seem to believe it. Others start hedging when questioned and say things like, "Maybe a few other technical things in the alloys are different, but the Rodium is what makes the white gold as white as it is." Which is a much more TRUE statement. So it's not like some of them don't know the truth. They seem to link that lying is faster and less confusing. The last thing they want to be asked is..., "Really? What KINDS of techinical things are different about the alloys." Cause I doubt they could answer that one.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Once while browing, a sales gal at Fred Meyer had a crappy, heavily included dull diamond. She was trying to convince me that I should check out their up-and-coming diamond show. I asked if they would have ideal cut stones there and she said, "yes, that she had purchased her diamond at one of their shows." She then tilted her hand so I could get a better look. I couldn't even muster up a fake, "oooh, that is amazing. . ." I just cringed and walked off.

 

[Todd Gray]

I accompanied a friend of a friend to a mall store because she was convinced that she could buy a 1.25 carat, F, VS-2, marquise for $2,800.00 (at 50% off the normal price) and took offense when I quoted her a real price based on a legitimately graded diamond. The challenge was thrown down by a few of my friends, the gauntlet tossed and all that, so off we went to the store which was located in the Sunrise Mall in the Sacramento area. We walked in and the clerk greeted her by name, she introduced me as a friend of the family, he produced "the rock" which she thrust into my face with a "see" look on her face - I politely asked for a loupe (acting dumb) and he handed me a 7x loupe, I asked for a 10x and he indicated that they didn''t have one in the store... No problem I replied, I''ll use mine, he looked a little confused. I asked for a piece of paper and a pen, he produced it and I drew an outline of the diamond, wrote down 1.25 carat, F, VS-2 at the top of the page and proceeded to plot the inclusions, she asked what I was doing, the clerk put his head into his hand and started rubbing his temples while he mumbled "he''s mapping the stone" - I marked down a couple of chips, a few diamond crystals, an extensive feather and then I wrote "fracture filled" down on the piece of paper along with "I-1" and then I held the diamond up to the ring I was wearing on my hand which was a 2.25 carat, SI-2, I color, round and wrote "M/N" on the paper, flipped it around so that it was readable by the clerk on the other side of the counter and said "what do you think about that?" with a subtle tone of curiosity...

The clerk remarked "You know, I don''t know a thing about diamonds, let me get the manager..."

The manager walked over, picked up the ring, read the tag and repeated "1.25 carat, F, VS-2" and I said "R-E-A-L-L-Y?!?!?" to which he remarked "You know the district manager is in the store today, let me get him..."

While all of this was going on, I took a moment to clearly explain to the "friend of a friend" what all of this meant and that the diamond was fracture filled, etc. and the sales person looked like he was going to puke because I was going on and on about how failing to disclose such treatment in writing is a violation of the Federal Trade Commission, blah, blah, blah...

So the "district manager" walked over, he didn''t even look at the ring, he looked at the paper and stared at me for a moment... I smiled and stared at him. The "D.M." said "He''s absolutely correct, we must have mis-tagged this particular ring" to which I said "of course" and he asked what we should do about it - I said "how about $1,800.00 out the door and you guys take care of the financing interest free for a year in the next 5 minutes" and he said "Done".

We walked out of the store and about halfway down the mall, she turns to me and says "so do you think a lot of the jewelry in that store is mis-tagged?" and I just laughed

 

[ts44]

Date: 7/24/2009 5:15:59 PM
Author: Todd Gray
I accompanied a friend of a friend to a mall store because she was convinced that she could buy a 1.25 carat, F, VS-2, marquise for $2,800.00 (at 50% off the normal price) and took offense when I quoted her a real price based on a legitimately graded diamond. The challenge was thrown down by a few of my friends, the gauntlet tossed and all that, so off we went to the store which was located in the Sunrise Mall in the Sacramento area. We walked in and the clerk greeted her by name, she introduced me as a friend of the family, he produced ''the rock'' which she thrust into my face with a ''see'' look on her face - I politely asked for a loupe (acting dumb) and he handed me a 7x loupe, I asked for a 10x and he indicated that they didn''t have one in the store... No problem I replied, I''ll use mine, he looked a little confused. I asked for a piece of paper and a pen, he produced it and I drew an outline of the diamond, wrote down 1.25 carat, F, VS-2 at the top of the page and proceeded to plot the inclusions, she asked what I was doing, the clerk put his head into his hand and started rubbing his temples while he mumbled ''he''s mapping the stone'' - I marked down a couple of chips, a few diamond crystals, an extensive feather and then I wrote ''fracture filled'' down on the piece of paper along with ''I-1'' and then I held the diamond up to the ring I was wearing on my hand which was a 2.25 carat, SI-2, I color, round and wrote ''M/N'' on the paper, flipped it around so that it was readable by the clerk on the other side of the counter and said ''what do you think about that?'' with a subtle tone of curiosity...

The clerk remarked ''You know, I don''t know a thing about diamonds, let me get the manager...''

The manager walked over, picked up the ring, read the tag and repeated ''1.25 carat, F, VS-2'' and I said ''R-E-A-L-L-Y?!?!?'' to which he remarked ''You know the district manager is in the store today, let me get him...''

While all of this was going on, I took a moment to clearly explain to the ''friend of a friend'' what all of this meant and that the diamond was fracture filled, etc. and the sales person looked like he was going to puke because I was going on and on about how failing to disclose such treatment in writing is a violation of the Federal Trade Commission, blah, blah, blah...

So the ''district manager'' walked over, he didn''t even look at the ring, he looked at the paper and stared at me for a moment... I smiled and stared at him. The ''D.M.'' said ''He''s absolutely correct, we must have mis-tagged this particular ring'' to which I said ''of course'' and he asked what we should do about it - I said ''how about $1,800.00 out the door and you guys take care of the financing interest free for a year in the next 5 minutes'' and he said ''Done''.

We walked out of the store and about halfway down the mall, she turns to me and says ''so do you think a lot of the jewelry in that store is mis-tagged?'' and I just laughed

Oh Snap!

"he''s mapping the stone..." ROFL I can imagine the look on the clerk''s face.

 

[litebrite]

I think your story tops the others, Todd. Although I don''t know that I would have bought that stone. Did she wind up purchasing it?

 

[Kay]

ROFL!

Date: 7/23/2009 11:21:46 PM
Author: iota
This has happened to me twice now. After trying on a few different things...

Me: Do you have any radiant cut diamonds?

SA hands me a round brilliant and says, ''These are the most radiant diamonds we have''.

_________________

Oh, oh, and at Birks (the ''Tiffany of the North''), a young-ish SA tells me that ''Our (patented cushion cut) is cut from the same rough as our round brilliants. And THAT''s why they''re so shiny.''

 

[iota]

Date: 7/24/2009 5:15:59 PM
Author: Todd Gray
I accompanied a friend of a friend to a mall store because she was convinced that she could buy a 1.25 carat, F, VS-2, marquise for $2,800.00 (at 50% off the normal price) and took offense when I quoted her a real price based on a legitimately graded diamond. The challenge was thrown down by a few of my friends, the gauntlet tossed and all that, so off we went to the store which was located in the Sunrise Mall in the Sacramento area. We walked in and the clerk greeted her by name, she introduced me as a friend of the family, he produced 'the rock' which she thrust into my face with a 'see' look on her face - I politely asked for a loupe (acting dumb) and he handed me a 7x loupe, I asked for a 10x and he indicated that they didn't have one in the store... No problem I replied, I'll use mine, he looked a little confused. I asked for a piece of paper and a pen, he produced it and I drew an outline of the diamond, wrote down 1.25 carat, F, VS-2 at the top of the page and proceeded to plot the inclusions, she asked what I was doing, the clerk put his head into his hand and started rubbing his temples while he mumbled 'he's mapping the stone' - I marked down a couple of chips, a few diamond crystals, an extensive feather and then I wrote 'fracture filled' down on the piece of paper along with 'I-1' and then I held the diamond up to the ring I was wearing on my hand which was a 2.25 carat, SI-2, I color, round and wrote 'M/N' on the paper, flipped it around so that it was readable by the clerk on the other side of the counter and said 'what do you think about that?' with a subtle tone of curiosity...

The clerk remarked 'You know, I don't know a thing about diamonds, let me get the manager...'

The manager walked over, picked up the ring, read the tag and repeated '1.25 carat, F, VS-2' and I said 'R-E-A-L-L-Y?!?!?' to which he remarked 'You know the district manager is in the store today, let me get him...'

While all of this was going on, I took a moment to clearly explain to the 'friend of a friend' what all of this meant and that the diamond was fracture filled, etc. and the sales person looked like he was going to puke because I was going on and on about how failing to disclose such treatment in writing is a violation of the Federal Trade Commission, blah, blah, blah...

So the 'district manager' walked over, he didn't even look at the ring, he looked at the paper and stared at me for a moment... I smiled and stared at him. The 'D.M.' said 'He's absolutely correct, we must have mis-tagged this particular ring' to which I said 'of course' and he asked what we should do about it - I said 'how about $1,800.00 out the door and you guys take care of the financing interest free for a year in the next 5 minutes' and he said 'Done'.

We walked out of the store and about halfway down the mall, she turns to me and says 'so do you think a lot of the jewelry in that store is mis-tagged?' and I just laughed

OMG!!! Fractured filled! Passing off an M/N as an F??????? I would love to go window shopping with you! This is hilarious... my gawd, I can't believed this stuff gets passed off like that.

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 7/24/2009 6:02:03 PM
Author: litebrite
I think your story tops the others, Todd. Although I don''t know that I would have bought that stone. Did she wind up purchasing it?

Oh yea, she purchased it and was proud as punch. But at least I was vindicated in the eyes of my friends when she told them all about how I schooled the clerk on diamond grading...

Here''s a kicker... One day I''m walking through the mall and somebody calls out my name from inside a maul jewelry store, I stop and look in and sitting behind the counter is one of my clients! This guy used to be the assistant sales manager at a car dealership owned by a client of mine and I''d sold the guy a chain for his wife. He laughed and asked whether I was surprised to see him behind the counter and I had to admit that it was a bit of a surprise and he said "yea I don''t know a thing about jewelry as you well know, but I can sell ice to an Eskimo and everything I need to know is written on the tag!"

Uh yea, oh boy... I handed him a fresh business card and said "call me if you get stuck"... I kid you not when I tell you that he''s referred a couple of people to the web site

 

[Gypsy]

I wanna go shopping with Todd!!!

He''s plotting the inclusions. ROFLMAO.

That''s clerk speak for "Oh crap."

 

[iota]

Over the phone, I was talking to a local diamond dealer and he had some stones in front of him already... I guess when I asked too many questions, like you know, what the depth was and where the inclusions were generally located, he got frustrated and started repeating: "Do YOU want to be a jeweler? NO! you don't want to be a jeweler! NO! Only jewelers need to know this stuff. And YOU'RE NOT A JEWELER!!!" lol.

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 7/24/2009 6:26:11 PM
Author: iota
Over the phone, I was talking to a local diamond dealer and he had some stones in front of him already... I guess when I asked too many questions, like you know, what the depth was and where the inclusions were generally located, he got frustrated and started repeating: ''Do YOU want to be a jeweler? NO! you don''t want to be a jeweler! NO! Only jewelers need to know this stuff. And YOU''RE NOT A JEWELER!!!'' lol.

Can I send you a diamond grading loupe? That would make the guy''s day

 

[Lynn B]

These stories are hilarious AND pathetic!!!

I went into a mall store one day and the sales associate grabbed my hand and screeched (all without taking a breath), "OHMYGODYOURRINGISFABULOUS! YOURDIAMONDISHUGE!WHATISITABOUT3CARATS????!ANDIKNOWAD/IFWHENISEEIT!YOURHUSBANDMUSTREALLYLOVEYOU!"

--> on all KINDS of levels!!!!

 

[iota]

Date: 7/24/2009 6:31:30 PM
Author: Todd Gray

Date: 7/24/2009 6:26:11 PM
Author: iota
Over the phone, I was talking to a local diamond dealer and he had some stones in front of him already... I guess when I asked too many questions, like you know, what the depth was and where the inclusions were generally located, he got frustrated and started repeating: ''Do YOU want to be a jeweler? NO! you don''t want to be a jeweler! NO! Only jewelers need to know this stuff. And YOU''RE NOT A JEWELER!!!'' lol.

Can I send you a diamond grading loupe? That would make the guy''s day

haha. seriously? That would make my day.

 

[packrat]

Date: 7/24/2009 5:15:59 PM
Author: Todd Gray
I accompanied a friend of a friend to a mall store because she was convinced that she could buy a 1.25 carat, F, VS-2, marquise for $2,800.00 (at 50% off the normal price) and took offense when I quoted her a real price based on a legitimately graded diamond. The challenge was thrown down by a few of my friends, the gauntlet tossed and all that, so off we went to the store which was located in the Sunrise Mall in the Sacramento area. We walked in and the clerk greeted her by name, she introduced me as a friend of the family, he produced ''the rock'' which she thrust into my face with a ''see'' look on her face - I politely asked for a loupe (acting dumb) and he handed me a 7x loupe, I asked for a 10x and he indicated that they didn''t have one in the store... No problem I replied, I''ll use mine, he looked a little confused. I asked for a piece of paper and a pen, he produced it and I drew an outline of the diamond, wrote down 1.25 carat, F, VS-2 at the top of the page and proceeded to plot the inclusions, she asked what I was doing, the clerk put his head into his hand and started rubbing his temples while he mumbled ''he''s mapping the stone'' - I marked down a couple of chips, a few diamond crystals, an extensive feather and then I wrote ''fracture filled'' down on the piece of paper along with ''I-1'' and then I held the diamond up to the ring I was wearing on my hand which was a 2.25 carat, SI-2, I color, round and wrote ''M/N'' on the paper, flipped it around so that it was readable by the clerk on the other side of the counter and said ''what do you think about that?'' with a subtle tone of curiosity...


The clerk remarked ''You know, I don''t know a thing about diamonds, let me get the manager...''

The manager walked over, picked up the ring, read the tag and repeated ''1.25 carat, F, VS-2'' and I said ''R-E-A-L-L-Y?!?!?'' to which he remarked ''You know the district manager is in the store today, let me get him...''


While all of this was going on, I took a moment to clearly explain to the ''friend of a friend'' what all of this meant and that the diamond was fracture filled, etc. and the sales person looked like he was going to puke because I was going on and on about how failing to disclose such treatment in writing is a violation of the Federal Trade Commission, blah, blah, blah...


So the ''district manager'' walked over, he didn''t even look at the ring, he looked at the paper and stared at me for a moment... I smiled and stared at him. The ''D.M.'' said ''He''s absolutely correct, we must have mis-tagged this particular ring'' to which I said ''of course'' and he asked what we should do about it - I said ''how about $1,800.00 out the door and you guys take care of the financing interest free for a year in the next 5 minutes'' and he said ''Done''.


We walked out of the store and about halfway down the mall, she turns to me and says ''so do you think a lot of the jewelry in that store is mis-tagged?'' and I just laughed

hahaha "He''s mapping the stone" I can just about picture the poor clerk wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole!

 

[that_someone_special]

Date: 7/24/2009 6:18:44 PM
Author: Gypsy
I wanna go shopping with Todd!!!

He''s plotting the inclusions. ROFLMAO.

That''s clerk speak for ''Oh crap.''

Me too! Perhaps a PS field trip...

 

[T L]

This isn''t so much funny, as it is scary and sad, especially coming from a jewelry store that has been around for many many years.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/cd-peacock-clueless.114646/

 

[jet2ks]

Date: 7/24/2009 11:41:00 PM
Author: swedish bean

Date: 7/24/2009 6:18:44 PM
Author: Gypsy
I wanna go shopping with Todd!!!

He''s plotting the inclusions. ROFLMAO.

That''s clerk speak for ''Oh crap.''

Me too! Perhaps a PS field trip...

Can you imagine the SA''s expression when everyone in the group pulls out their own loupe?

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 7/24/2009 7:24:57 PM
Author: iota

Date: 7/24/2009 6:31:30 PM

Author: Todd Gray

Date: 7/24/2009 6:26:11 PM

Author: iota

Over the phone, I was talking to a local diamond dealer and he had some stones in front of him already... I guess when I asked too many questions, like you know, what the depth was and where the inclusions were generally located, he got frustrated and started repeating: ''Do YOU want to be a jeweler? NO! you don''t want to be a jeweler! NO! Only jewelers need to know this stuff. And YOU''RE NOT A JEWELER!!!'' lol.

Can I send you a diamond grading loupe? That would make the guy''s day

haha. seriously? That would make my day.

Yea, seriously... Drop me an email with your address and I''ll pop one out in the mail to you.

 

[Laila619]

I''ve been told...

"Oh, Platinum doesn''t scratch at all."

"6 prong settings are actually less secure than 4 prong."

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 7/25/2009 12:08:55 AM
Author: jet2ks

Date: 7/24/2009 11:41:00 PM
Author: swedish bean

Date: 7/24/2009 6:18:44 PM
Author: Gypsy
I wanna go shopping with Todd!!!

He''s plotting the inclusions. ROFLMAO.

That''s clerk speak for ''Oh crap.''

Me too! Perhaps a PS field trip...

Can you imagine the SA''s expression when everyone in the group pulls out their own loupe?

Yes, I can. Cause I''ve seen it. A few of our GTG''s in NorCal have hit 10 or 12 PSers (majority with loops, some with other scopes, some iwth calipers) in attendance and involved going to 4 or 5 large diamond stores in SF en mass. There are some stores, like Langs, who are aware of PS and are very nice about everything. Then there are others who just react in shock horror and dismay after talking to us after about 3 minutes.

It''s kinda fun.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/25/2009 12:08:55 AM
Author: jet2ks

Date: 7/24/2009 11:41:00 PM
Author: swedish bean

Date: 7/24/2009 6:18:44 PM
Author: Gypsy
I wanna go shopping with Todd!!!

He''s plotting the inclusions. ROFLMAO.

That''s clerk speak for ''Oh crap.''

Me too! Perhaps a PS field trip...

Can you imagine the SA''s expression when everyone in the group pulls out their own loupe?

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!